Bobby Lyle

Growing up in Minneapolis, Bobby Lyle began studying piano at age six under the guidance of his mother, a church organist. During junior high he briefly took up the clarinet before returning to the keyboard. His formative listening centered on Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Erroll Garner, and Art Tatum. At sixteen he played his first professional engagement; after two years of college he turned full-time musician in 1964. Six years of local work in Minneapolis followed, after which he spent two years on the road with Young-Holt Unlimited. Returning once more to Minneapolis, he recorded a 1974 session issued only in Japan. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1976, he soon joined Sly & the Family Stone, later worked with Ronnie Laws, and cut two solo albums for Capitol. Guest appearances with George Benson, Phyllis Hyman, and Esther Phillips came next. Early in the 1980s he toured with Benson and served as Bette Midler’s musical director. Following two years alongside Al Jarreau, he made a straight-ahead combo album for King later reissued by Evidence, conducted for Anita Baker in 1986, and collaborated with Gerald Albright. In 1988 he entered a lengthy association with Atlantic that produced six albums through 1997, among them the 1991 solo-piano set Pianomagic. Into the new millennium Lyle has continued to function as both leader and sideman on independent releases that include the 2002 album Joyful, 2004’s Straight and Smooth, and 2006’s Hands On.